Few inside the beltway noticed this week when Joe Biden made a point in his 9/24/2008 speech in Cincinnati which has thus far been entirely absent from the establishment media narrative but which may surface tonight at the debate in Oxford, given current events.
And unlike John McCain — who opposed Barack Obama's call to take out the high-level terrorist targets in Pakistan and called it 'bombing our ally' — we will not tolerate a terrorist sanctuary in Pakistan.
I hope this is a sign the Obama campaign has been prepping on this point for the debate, so that should the pitch come Obama can jerk it into the upper deck rather than settle for a ground rule double.
Batting practice follows in the body.
continued...
Here is the key point from Biden's speech:
Here is a CNN Fact Check of Biden's point:
The Verdict: True. Biden accurately characterizes Obama and McCain's statements.
Here is Barack Obama's original statement from his 8/1/2007 speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center:
I understand that President Musharraf has his own challenges. But let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al Qaeda leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will.
Here is John McCain's commentary from his 2/19/2008 WI victory speech:
Will the next President have the experience, the judgment experience informs, and the strength of purpose to respond to each of these developments in ways that strengthen our security and advance the global progress of our ideals? Or will we risk the confused leadership of an inexperienced candidate who once suggested invading our ally, Pakistan, and sitting down without pre-conditions or clear purpose with enemies who support terrorists and are intent on destabilizing the world by acquiring nuclear weapons?
And — just because it was so honest, intelligent, and dead-on — here are links to the full video of Obama's 8/1/2007 speech:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3 (Pakistan)
Part 4
Part 5
The whole speech is well worth a listen (or a second listen) and it's a great reminder, after all the distractions of the last two months, of why we support this guy.
(end of diary)